How do you avoid a "pissing contest" in disaster management?These incude the EMS, the police, fire department, and of course the army thinking they have THE answer. So what are some ways to avoid this and encourage a team game from them all?

BenS obviously has training in how to lead pissing contests... please ignore him.

To avoid situations like that, you have to sell your soul to the ICS gods.. The Incident Command System was created for situations just like this - and as long as everyone does their part, it works wonderfully. If someone doesn't want to play, this is why we do drills and exercises and such all the time - to identify those folks early on and school them on ICS. Once they play the ICS game, you don't end up with pissing contests.

I was at the TWA-800 crash response - and saw what happens when half-a-dozen organizations all claim to be in charge. There were two disasters - the plane crash and what happened at the Coast Guard Group Moriches base... The FBI wanted to be in charge because there was a possible international crime... the ATF wanted to be in charge because there were possible explosives... The NTSB wanted to be in charge because there was a commercial airline crash... The NSA wanted to be in charge because there was possible international terrorism... The Coast Guard wanted to be in charge because there were possible lives to be saved - or bodies recovered - and lots of pollution... the Suffolk County Sheriff's office wanted to be in charge because the wreckage was washing up on Suffolk County beaches... and the "Friends of the Bay" wanted to be in charge because there was oily debris washing up on the federal beaches and fouling the habitat of the beloved wading bird, the Piping Plover.

It was bedlam.

Ever since then, we've worked long and hard to actually work together. Operations like 9/11 response and Hurricane Katrina response and the Red River (Fargo) flooding response and earthquakes and such all help keep us working together. If someone really has a hard time working as part of the Integrated Command, they are weeded out pretty early.

The Christmas Bomber Story, is the Explanation of a Pissing Contest Between Agencies Acceptable to you?It is of Very Little or No Comfort to me.

Having Agencies Choosing Loyalty to Themselves Over the Truth of their Primary Purpose, is Indeed Unacceptable.

It is the Alleged Christmas Bomber , who allegedly boarded that plane with an alleged bomb on his person. No, unacceptable but since the current administration refuses to take control of the situation it will not improve. Explanation ranks right up there with The Dog Ate My Homework

Will this ongoing pissing contest between Iran and the US ever amount to anything?Or will it just continue to be a "who's got the bigger wang" show of chest-puffing for the next couple of years?

If we elect McCain to be president, it will escalate to another war. Possibly World War III. Makes you think twice about voting for McSame, huh?

Did Limbaugh say "retard" deliberately because he wanted to get in a pissing contest w/ Palin?Did he want to embarrass her and put her in a difficult position? Does he enjoy watching her squirm?

Whenever a guy like Limbaugh's name appears in the news, his ratings go up.

No harm can come to the guy for getting attention.

They just look like two bickering idiots to me.

Men's Health: Guys, have you ever been in a pissing contest?Who won? Where was the contest held? at a camp?

yes i have but i ended up pissing on my self as i pissed on a electric fence
we were in a field and it was who could piss over the hedge
talk about a shock lol

What's with the pissing contest?What's with the pissing contest?
At my small group tennis club there are 2 older men (ages 51 who is new, and 66 who has been there for 2 years) who have "teamed up". Whenever a single woman attempts to join the group (which is very rare) these 2 bozos get into a pissing contest to see who can "win". The newest woman is about 32 years old and the 2 men are literally falling over themselves.

The other women in the club are rolling their eyes and losing respect for these guys--their "meat market mentality" is very blatant and obvious. And the new women, the "prey" are saying they don't like it and leave after 2-3 meetings.

What's up with these 2 men??
Is this some game they're playing or are they just clueless bozos?

(The man who's been there for 2 years wasn't like this before the new guy turned up)
Should I tell them to cool it or would that look like jealousy?

thrist has a good answer but the next guy is way off base.

I find this behavior unacceptable and think someone should call them on it. If you are bold enough I might suggest that you introduce yourself to new female members and loudly and publicly warn them about how these two will act. Maybe that will put their behavior in perspective for them.

Will the 15 recess appointments make the divide between Repugs and Dums grow into a bigger pissing contest...?at Americas expense? apnews.myway.com/article/20100327…